The Adventure of Link and Jiraiya
by kitsunescythe
Summary: Link's quest to find the Sages of Hyrule leads him to finding a new sage from outside of Hyrule. How will this affect the Hero of Time's quest now that the perverted Toad Sage is tagging along? And will Jiraiya be able to find his way home again?
1. The Eighth Sage?

A new story inspired by the Seven Sages of Hyrule and the fact that Jiraiya is the Toad Sage. Don't ask. The connection was made in my brain, and it made me laugh to picture our favorite pervert having adventures in Hyrule with Link. Hopefully, others will find it entertaining as well. :P

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Chapter One: The Eighth Sage?

Link, the Hero of Time, the One Chosen by Destiny to save the Land of Hyrule, was taking a break. Hey, saving the world is hard work! So there he was—enjoying the hot springs of Kakariko Village.

Or at least he was trying to.

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed youth leaned back in the hot water, sinking down until the water was just under his nose as he tried to ignore the perverted giggling coming from the far end of the men's side of the hot springs. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the world around him. He needed to unwind before he returned to the life of a hero. Having just destroyed the dragon Volvagia and thus freeing the Sage of Fire, who turned out to be his friend and Goron Blood-Brother Darunia, Link needed a serious break from all the dungeon-exploring and monster-fighting. Especially since his next stop was Zora's Domain to find the Water Temple. And he wasn't looking forward to seeing the spoiled Princess Ruto again.

But with every perverted giggle he heard, Link's temper was getting closer and closer to being unleashed.

Opening one blue eye, Link looked over to the source of the giggling and saw a large, well-muscled man with long, spiky, white hair tied up in a ponytail and was only wearing a towel around his waist. The man was crouched down near the dividing wall that separated the men's side from the women's side, and he had his face pressed up against the wall.

Now, even though Link was technically only ten-years-old mentally—having come forward seven years into the future in the blink of an eye with only his body maturing while he was placed into a deep sleep—he still knew enough to guess that whatever the man was doing wasn't good. And just as he was about to get up to go say something to the man, a voice suddenly spoke up from his left.

"What a pervert!"

"Gah!" Link cried out as he jumped a little to the side and put up his hands in some kind of martial arts stance as if to defend himself. He relaxed when he saw it was only his fairy partner Navi.

Unlike the other kids in Kokiri Forest where Link grew up, he was the only one to not have a fairy partner. Most of the kids felt sorry for him, and one of them even made fun of him for it. His best friend Saria, however, just accepted it and tried to make him feel better, although she didn't understand why he was the only one without one either.

But that all changed the day Navi flew into his house and subsequently started his whole quest to save Hyrule.

Link looked at his partner now as she floated at head-level to him. He couldn't quite tell since fairies look like little balls of light—in Navi's case, a bluish-white light ball—with wings, but he was pretty sure she was still looking at the white-haired man and ignoring the fact that she just scared her friend with her sudden appearance. If he could see her body, Link was pretty sure she'd have her arms crossed while scowling at the man.

"Navi? What the heck are you doing in here?!" the hero asked indignantly. "This is the men's side!"

Again, even though he couldn't see it, he could almost swear she just rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously, Link? I hide in your hat and your clothes and have been around for more than one of your baths in the river and lake, and _now_ you're worried about me seeing something?"

"I-er...well..." Link stammered as a blush crossed his cheeks.

Navi sighed. "I'm not a pervert, Link. In fact, I don't even look at you like that considering the physical impossibilities, but forget all that now! You should do something about that guy! He's peeking on the women!"

"Right!" he stood up and quickly wrapped his towel around his waist while Navi humored him by turning around. "I was actually about to do that when you showed up," he told her.

Navi didn't reply as Link got out of the water and made his way over to the man who was still peering through the wall. When he was right behind the man, Link asked, "What are you doing?"

"Shh! I'll let you have a turn in just a minute," the white-haired man replied while waving a hand at Link as if to shoo him away, but he didn't turn to look at the hero. "I just need a bit longer to finish my research today."

Link's eyebrow twitched, and he yelled rather loudly, "I don't want a turn! You're peeking at the women, you pervert!"

There were several gasps followed by a moment of silence. Then suddenly, the air was torn with the screams of several women, and the dividing wall was knocked over on the white-haired man as the screaming women stormed over in a rage. They were all wrapped in their towels, but Link still ended up getting a view of more female flesh than he's ever seen before. A trickle of blood ran out of his nose as he watched one group of the women pull the white-haired man out from under the wall and proceed to beat the living crap out of him. Link never noticed the other group of women coming after him.

"Get him! He's a pervert too!" they shouted as they jumped at the Hero of Time.

"Gah!" Link yelped, leaping away from the women and running for his life. "Navi! Do something!"

"Like what?!" she shouted back as struggled to keep up with him.

"I don't know! Find a weakness so I can defeat them like you always do!"

"Other than removing their towels, I don't know what to tell you!"

"WHAT?! But I can't do that! I'm not a pervert!"

"Says the guy with a bloody nose!"

"Hey! I couldn't help it!"

Just then, the hero tripped and landed flat on his face. Turning over on his back, he saw the women were nearly upon him and decided to take drastic measures. Focusing his magic, he used Din's Fire, creating a dome of flames around himself that expanded outward, and as it washed over the women, they were left unharmed. Their towels, however...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the ladies unleashed an ear-shattering scream when they found themselves suddenly naked.

Link, struggling to keep his eyes closed, couldn't stand not knowing if the women were still about to kill him, and he slowly opened one eye. Both eyes opened and grew wide as saucers at the sight of so much female flesh, and Link's nose exploded in a gush of blood as he fell backwards, unconscious.

Sometime later, Link awakened still on his back and in his towel with the white-haired man kneeling over him—fully dressed in mesh armor underneath a green shirt kimono and matching pants and a red haori. He also wore hand guards, a headband with the kanji for "oil", wooden sandals, and a large scroll on his lower back. In addition, the man had red lines going from underneath his eyes to his jaw.

Seeing Link was awake, the man started laughing loudly. "Oh man! You have got to teach me that technique you used, gaki! The way you got rid of their towels just like that," he snapped his fingers, "without hurting them was epic! This has been the best research I've ever gotten!"

"What—Who are you anyway?" Link grumbled as he sat up holding his head, which was aching a bit from blood loss.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" the man asked in shock.

Link shook his head. "Should I?"

"Pah! Why I am the one and only Sage of Mount Myoboku! Jiraiya the Toad Sage!" the man announced while striking a pose.

"Mount Myo-what-who?" Link asked while sweat-dropping at the man's antics.

Jiraiya fell flat on his face. Picking himself up, he said, "You don't know about Mount Myoboku either?" Link shook his head, and the self-proclaimed Toad Sage sighed.

"But you say you're a Sage?" Link questioned as he got to his feet.

"Yup! That's me!" Jiraiya replied cheerfully.

Turning to his fairy partner, who was floating off to the side feeling rather irked by the white-haired man, Link asked, "Navi? This guy's not one of the Seven Sages, is he?"

"Are you kidding me?! There's no way one of the Sages would be a perverted old man!" Navi shouted vehemently while bouncing up and down in the air.

"Hey, now. That's not very nice," Jiraiya said with a sad voice and a pout.

"Neither is peeking on women!" Navi shot back.

Link sighed. "So he's not one of the Sages we need? That really sucks. I was hoping at least one of them would be this easy to find. Can we substitute him for one of the others?" he asked Navi hopefully.

"A-Are you serious?! No! It doesn't work that way, Link!" Navi yelled in disbelief that he would even ask.

All of a sudden, Jiraiya was right next to Navi, and with his index finger and thumb, he grabbed her wings and pulled her closer to get a better look while he held his chin with his free hand in a thoughtful expression.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed indignantly while struggling to get away.

"Trying to figure out what you are. Do you have a body or are you just a ball of light? What are you?" Jiraiya asked with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Get your filthy, perverted hands off me! I'm not about to explain what I am to you!" Navi shouted at him, and Jiraiya released her. She shot forward and slammed into the perverted Sage's face, knocking him over, and then she flew over to Link.

"You okay?" He asked his partner.

"No thanks to you," she huffed.

"Hey, I was gonna help, but I'm kind of in a towel. Besides," the hero continued as he made his way to the changing room, "I was wondering the same things. Kind of disappointed you didn't answer."

"Hmph!" Navi snorted. "Well, I'm not telling you either!"

"Fine, fine. Just calm down, Navi," Link said while making a placating gesture with his hands.

Once in the changing room, he removed his towel and put his white pants and matching undershirt back on. Then he pulled on his green tunic and hat and then his boots and gauntlets. Throwing his sword on so the hilt was over his left shoulder, he put his shield on his back as well and started to make his way out of the hot springs when he ran into the Toad Sage again.

Grinning like an idiot, Jiraiya asked, "So where ya goin', gaki?"

"Uh... Well, first of all, my name's Link," the Hero of Time told him, "and second of all, why do you want to know?"

Jiraiya's grin faded a bit, and he scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "No reason, really. It's just...I'm not from here, and I need something to do until I can find the way back home. Whoever these 'Sages' are that you're looking for sound like they're powerful people, so maybe they could help me get home."

"Where's 'home' exactly?" Link asked as he tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

Jiraiya sighed. "From here? I have no idea. It's a long story how I got here, but my home is Konoha in the Land of Fire, which is one of the Elemental Nations."

Link and Navi looked at each other then back at Jiraiya. "Um," Link began, "yeah... We have no idea where any of those places are."

Jiraiya sighed again, this time with deep sadness. "I figured. But even still, maybe these Sages of yours can help me. Just let me tag along. Please."

Link scratched his cheek and looked at Navi for her opinion. "I don't know," she told her partner. "How do we know we can trust him? He could be one of Ganondorf's men."

"Ganon-who?" Jiraiya questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "Never mind. Look, if I was going to kill you or whatever this Ganon person wants to do to you, wouldn't I have done that while you were out cold?"

"He's got a point," Link said to Navi. "Besides, I get the feeling he's telling us the truth."

Navi sighed. "Fine. Do what you want, Link."

Said hero smiled at her and then turned back to Jiraiya. "As long as you agree to help me on my quest, you're welcome to come along."

"Alright! Thanks, gaki!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a huge grin and a hearty slap on Link's shoulder.

"Yeah, sure," the hero replied as he started walking again with Jiraiya and Navi following. After a moment, Link looked back over his shoulder and asked the Toad Sage, "So, Jiraiya, right? Why do you call me 'gaki'? I mean, I understand we have an age difference, but you say that name like I'm somehow familiar."

Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "Wow. You're pretty sharp, kid. Yeah, I guess you could say it feels like I know you. Probably 'cause you look similar to two former students of mine."

"Really?" Link wasn't expecting that.

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. They had blonde hair and blue eyes like you. Though their hair was spikier than yours."

"What happened to them?" Link asked.

"Well, the first one died," Jiraiya answered sadly, and Link and Navi were a bit shocked to hear that. "He died along with his wife protecting the village he was leader of as well as their son." He looked up at the sky as he remembered Minato and Kushina. "Their son was my second student. I'm pretty sure he's still alive back where I come from. I hope so anyway. His father was like a son to me, and so I consider his son to be my grandson."

Link looked at the dejected man walking next to him and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure he's fine, and if you managed to get here, then I'm sure there's a way to get you back to where you came from," he tried to reassure him.

"I hope you're right, gaki. But enough about my problems," Jiraiya said as his mood went from sad to serious. "What exactly is your quest? What are we dealing with here?"

"Now there's a loaded question," Navi answered dryly. "Long story short, we're trying to stop a madman from taking over our country—possibly the entire world—with a powerful artifact that grants the wish of whoever touches it. We need to awaken the Seven Sages to seal this man away once and for all."

Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully. "I see. And this madman—he's Ganondorf, I assume?"

"Yup," Link said simply.

"And this artifact... Does he already have it, or...?"

"No, he's still trying to get it. Otherwise, we'd already be done for," Navi explained.

"This artifact is that powerful?" Jiraiya asked in disbelief.

"So we've been told," Link replied with a shrug. "All those involved believe it, though, and with all the weird things I've seen—and some of the more horrible things I've seen Ganon do to get his hands on it—I believe it too."

Jiraiya let out a low whistle. "Well, dang. What's stopping him from obtaining this artifact already?"

"Part of it's been hidden from him or something like that," Navi told him.

"Ah. I see. One more question: How many Sages have you awakened so far?"

"Three. And there's three more to go," Link answered. "The Seventh Sage is supposed to be revealed after we awaken the first Six."

Jiraiya nodded again. "Alright, that doesn't sound too bad. You already did half the work, and now you have help." He grinned at Link and Navi, who smiled back and seemed to relax respectively. "So where are we headed now?"

"We're heading to Zora's Domain to find the Water Temple," the small fairy replied.

Nodding, the Toad Sage said, "Alright then! And maybe on the way, you two can explain to me just what in the heck a 'zora' is."

The Hero of Time and his fairy partner sweat-dropped at that as the trio left the gates of Kakariko Village.

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Please review if you like this first chapter! I want to know if you laughed or even just cracked a smile. And for those of you who know the Ocarina of Time, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of how things are gonna go when Princess Ruto comes in. Hahaha!


	2. Jiraiya Knows!

Thank you, my first 5 reviewers: **Haru**, **Undertaker5**, **dylan Bennett**, **p13600d** (really hope you like this story!), and **THE 7TH DEMON OF RAZGRIZ** (don't worry! None of my stories will ever be abandoned or left "dead in the water"!).

Hope you guys as well as the followers, favers, and newcomers to this story enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Legend of Zelda. I would make this an alternate version of the Ocarina of Time game if I did. XD

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Chapter Two: Jiraiya Knows!

After a long walk up the Zora River, Link, Navi, and Jiraiya finally reached the waterfall that flowed out of the river's source—Zora's Fountain, which was over Zora's Domain. Wordlessly, Jiraiya followed the Hero and his fairy partner up a natural land bridge that extended across the river, and the apex was right in front of the waterfall and relatively close. The Toad Sage was about to ask Link why they were there when the green-clad boy stepped onto a stone tile in the middle of the bridge. The Hero took out a blue, flutelike instrument with a silver band around the mouthpiece and a symbol made of three golden triangles that were situated in such a way that they formed one large triangle, and he proceeded to play a quiet melody on it. While he was playing, Jiraiya watched in silence and noticed that the same symbol on the instrument was on the tile underneath Link's feet.

As the song ended, the flow of the waterfall weakened, allowing Link and Navi to safely jump across to the opening of a tunnel just behind the water. "Come on!" Link called after Jiraiya. "It'll close again soon!"

Jiraiya, however, didn't listen and instead walked over to the tile to inspect it. _"Is it some kind of fuinjutsu?" _he wondered to himself, completely ignoring Link and Navi yelling at him. The waterfall returned to its normal flow, and the Toad Sage stood back up and stretched.

"Well, what do we do now?" Link asked his fairy partner. "Should we go back out and open the waterfall again?"

Before Navi could answer, however, a voice spoke from behind him, "Nah, that's not necessary."

"Gah!" Link shouted in surprise, whipping around with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Seeing it was just Jiraiya, he sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just y—"

"How did you do that?!" Navi interrupted with a shriek, which echoed in the small cave they were in. Both men cringed and covered their ears.

"Ow! Not so loud! It was just a simple Shunshin. What's the big deal?" Jiraiya asked while sticking his pinky finger in his ear in an attempt to clear out the ringing noise.

Link started walking further into the cave as he asked, "What's a 'Shunshin'?"

"Huh? You guys don't know what Shunshin no Jutsu is?" Despite knowing he was in a different world, Jiraiya was shocked.

"Obviously not. So what is it?" the fairy repeated the question.

"It's a ninjutsu that moves the user at such a high speed they appear to have teleported. The use of smoke bombs or things like that can be used to mask the ninja's movement further," lectured the Toad Sage.

His two audience members just stared at him blankly for a moment. Then Link asked, "Wait. You're a ninja? I thought you were a Sage?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Never mind, gaki. I'm both, but to save time, just know that the Shunshin is a technique from my homeworld like that Din's Fire technique is to you. Speaking of which, what did you do to the waterfall? What's with the flute thing?"

"Oh, you mean my Ocarina?" Link held up the instrument proudly. "It's the Ocarina of Time! It's a magical instrument left to me by Princess Zelda."

"When Link plays the song known as 'Zelda's Lullaby' on top of the symbol of the Triforce, such as that stone tile in front of the waterfall out there, it causes certain things to happen," Navi continued for her friend.

"I see," was all Jiraiya said. _"So it is like a fuinjutsu. A weird, musically-activated fuinjutsu, but still. Ah, if only Naruto was here to see this. He'd be going on and on about how cool he thought things are here."_ A nostalgic smile and a faraway look came across Jiraiya's face as he thought of his last student.

Link and Navi saw his expression, but decided to just shrug it off for now.

The trio entered Zora's Domain, and Link and Navi were instantly just as frozen as their surroundings. Jiraiya, coming up behind them, nearly knocked the Hero over. Seeing his companions reaction—well, Link's at least since Navi was as unreadable as ever—and adding what they had told him about the Zora people, Jiraiya concluded that the frozen lake below the cliff walkway they were on and the waterfall on the far side of the lake that had actually frozen mid-flow were not normal for the location. When his companions broke out of their shock, they confirmed his suspicion.

Zora's Domain was not meant to be frozen.

Navi explained in no uncertain terms that the natural climate of the Domain was nowhere near cold, let alone icy, and that the fishlike people of the Zora race would not do well in the current arctic condition of their home. As the trio looked around the Domain, they could see several Zoras trapped beneath the ice. In his frustration, Link nearly depleted his magic by unleashing his Din's Fire multiple times in an attempt to break through the ice, but he couldn't even make a dent. Jiraiya then decided to try a few of his Fire Release jutsus—he was fairly certain even without seeing everything that Link could do that he was stronger than the boy, and he also was curious to see if his power, which was different from this world's, would somehow be able to affect the strange, unmelting ice. He used every fire jutsu he had in his arsenal other than the ones that required the aid of the Toads—he found out early on that he was unable to summon them in this world—but just like Link's attack, there was no change in the ice. Even the Rasengan had no effect.

"I'm sorry, gaki," Jiraiya said as he straightened from the last jutsu he used. "I think we should just keep moving. We can't do anything for them here."

Link nodded reluctantly, and Jiraiya and Navi followed him up to King Zora's chamber. They weren't too surprised to find the king encased in ice either, but Jiraiya wondered aloud why the ice around the king was red. The Hero and the Sage tried their fire attacks again, but alas, there was no change in it either. With a sad shrug, Link led his companions past King Zora and down the tunnel behind him that led to Zora's Fountain where Lord Jabu Jabu, the Zora's Guardian, resided.

Or at least he did.

At this point, Link had to be honest and admit he was not surprised at all by this change. While he wondered where the giant whale-fish was, he supposed Jabu Jabu simply went to a warmer climate, although he realized that didn't make the creature much of a Guardian to the Zora people.

Not really knowing why, Link made his way over to the mouth of a tunnel on the far side of the Fountain by hopping over the small icebergs floating in the water of the Fountain. Navi followed him, but Jiraiya, seeing where the Hero was headed, took the more direct route over the water much to the amazement of Link and Navi.

Once inside the cavern, the Hero and the Sage found themselves fighting several ice-themed monsters, such as Ice Keese and White Wolfos. Not that Link had any real problem with them, though, especially now that he had Jiraiya's help. Eventually, the trio came across a decorative brazier with a large, blue flame perpetually burning inside it. Upon examination of the flame, Navi informed Link and Jiraiya that the fire was actually cool to the touch and might possibly be useful if they could somehow take it along with them. The green-clad boy was about to take out one of his jars since they seemed strangely capable of carrying things like fire, but Jiraiya beat him to the punch by pulling out several scrolls. Fascinated, Link just stood there and watched as the old, white-haired man painted several strange symbols and patterns on the paper and then made some hand-signs, which pulled the fire into the scrolls and made new symbols appear on the paper as the fire was sealed. The fire in the brazier remained, but Jiraiya informed his companions that they now had some of it available for their own use in the scrolls.

Link, however, still grabbed some of the blue fire in a jar just in case.

Making their way further into the icy cavern, the trio eventually found the use for the fire—to melt the strange, red ice. This allowed them to progress to the end of the cavern where they fought two giant White Wolfos. Well, if you can call Link tearing one Wolfos apart with his sword while Jiraiya Rasengan'd the other into the wall a fight.

Once the monsters were gone, a chest appeared in a swirl of light, and Link collected a pair of iron boots from it. He stored them away in what Jiraiya could only assume was a seal since the boy simply put the item behind himself and it was gone.

Suddenly both the Hero and the Sage felt a presence behind them and whirled to face it. Jiraiya was intrigued to see what appeared to be a red-eyed young man with chin-length, golden-blonde hair that extended out from underneath a hat that looked to be made of wrappings or bandages. The newcomer was also wearing a skin-tight outfit that was blue, black, and white with a strange eye-symbol on the chest, and the collar extended up far enough to cover the lower half of the young man's face. Around the stranger's forearms and fingers were more of the bandage wrappings.

"Sheik!" Link greeted as Navi flew over to the newcomer.

"We meet again, Link," Sheik returned with a nod. Then glancing at Jiraiya, he asked, "Who is this?"

"Well, this is—"

"I am the one and only great, gallant Jiraiya! The Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!" the white-haired man interrupted while striking several poses.

"Mount Myo-what-who?" Sheik questioned with a raised eyebrow, and Jiraiya face-planted into the snowy ground.

"That's what I said!" Link laughed. Jiraiya stood up muttering something about ignorant brats, and the Hero answered Sheik's inquiring look. "He's not from our world, but he asked to join me on my quest to try and find a way back to his home." Then the boy turned to the Toad Sage. "Jiraiya, this is Sheik, a survivor of the nearly extinct Sheikah race. He shows up every now and then to help me and Navi."

"A pleasure to meet you," the red-eyed youth said with a small bow toward Jiraiya. "I'm afraid I don't know of anything that could help you in your endeavor to return home, but I sense that you are powerful and hope that you will continue to aid Link."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Well, I'll do what I can. But can you explain what's going on here?"

"Yeah, Sheik. Why is Zora's Domain frozen?" Navi asked before her partner could.

The Sheikah sighed. "This ice is created by an evil curse... The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. The Zoras...are now trapped under the ice with the exception of the Zora princess whom I managed to rescue. However, she left to head for the Water Temple."

"By herself?" Navi asked incredulously. Sheik only nodded.

"You're surprised, Navi? After the way she acted when we went to save her the first time, charging off to the Water Temple alone seems exactly like something she'd do," Link grumbled a bit.

"Wait. You've met this princess before?" Jiraiya questioned.

Link nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah, and she was really weird too! I came here before to get the Spiritual Stone of Water, which is also known as the Zora's Sapphire, and anyway, getting that stone also involved saving Princess Ruto. She was bossy and mean until I saved her, and then she was just weird. Her face started getting all red as she talked to me, and she called the Sapphire the 'Zora's Engagement Ring'. Whatever that means."

Sheik and Navi sweat-dropped while Jiraiya face-palmed. Link and Navi had explained on the way to Zora's Domain about the Hero having come forward seven years into the future in order to fulfill his role as the Hero of Time, but he hadn't really believed it before. _"But he's not as dumb as Naruto, so the only way he could be as dense as the gaki I know is if he still has the mind of a ten-year-old,"_ the Sage thought to himself.

Sheik cleared his throat and continued, "Anyway, Link, unless you shut off the source of the curse, the ice will never melt. If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zoras, I will teach you the melody that leads to the temple." The Sheikah pulled out a harp from behind him, making Jiraiya seriously think that everyone in this world must have storage seals on them, though he couldn't figure out why they'd have them on their backs. While Link took out his Ocarina, Sheik added, "Time passes, people move...like a river's flow, it never ends... A childish mind will turn to noble ambition... Young love will become deep affection... The clear water's surface reflects growth..."

_"This kid really seems to like trying to sound poetic," _Jiraiya mused.

_"What's Sheik talking about with the love stuff? Weird..."_ Link thought confused.

Sheik raised his harp to play. "Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself..."

The red-eyed youth played the tune a couple of times before Link joined in on the melody. Jiraiya was surprised at not only how quickly Link picked up the tune but also how the two managed to launch into a flawless, impromptu duet. When the song ended, the Hero's Ocarina glowed a little, and Sheik stored away his harp.

"Link... I'll see you again..." Sheik gave his farewell as he prepared to leave, but Jiraiya's voice stopped him.

"Wait! I have a question first!"

Cocking an eyebrow, Sheik replied, "Yes?"

"Why're you dressed like a man?"

"Huh?!" Link and Navi chorused. The Sheikah's red eyes just widened slightly.

Regaining his neutral look, the youth said, "Excuse me? I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I mean why are you dressed like a man when you are a woman?" Jiraiya clarified his original question.

"Wait, what?! Sheik's a girl?! How do you know?!" Link shouted in confusion at the Toad Sage.

"Pah! Nothing gets by me, the greatest example of masculinity in any world!" Jiraiya boasted with a smug grin. "I can sense a beautiful woman anywhere, no matter the disguise!"

Link, ignoring the Sage's bragging, looked over at Sheik, who was just standing there frozen with wide eyes and the hint of a blush showing on his tan skin above where his collar covered the lower half of his face. "Are you sure?" he asked the Sage.

"Absolutely! She's got a henge covering her with that magic stuff you guys have in this world, but it's not unlike the Transformation Jutsu of my world," Jiraiya explained confidently.

There was a long moment of silence where Link just stared at Sheik, and then suddenly he threw up his hands into the air, shouting, "Oh, thank GOODNESS!" He laughed a little before continuing, "You have no idea what a relief this is!"

"What do you mean, Link?" Navi asked, wondering a little about her partner's sanity.

"Well, I kept getting this weird feeling around Sheik, and it's the same weird feeling I got around Princess Zelda and to a lesser extent Saria, Malon, and even Princess Ruto," Link explained. "I've never gotten this feeling around a guy, though, so I just couldn't figure out what was up with that! It was confusing the heck outta me!"

Jiraiya guffawed loudly at the kid's naïveté while Navi sweat-dropped again and Sheik's blush deepened. Link, however, couldn't figure out why they were reacting like that, but wanting to know who the Sheikah really was, he took a step toward him...well, her.

Snapping back to attention, Sheik backed up a pace and held up a hand in the air that was grasping a Deku Nut. Flustered, the youth blurted out, "WellI'llseeyoulaterLink. Bye!" and threw down the Deku Nut, creating a flash of light that he/she disappeared in.

_"Huh. Just like a Shunshin,"_ Jiraiya mentally observed.

"Aw..." Link whined, slumping forward a bit. "Why'd she leave?"

Jiraiya chuckled a bit before answering, "Don't sweat it, gaki. I'm sure she's got reasons for the disguise. Maybe the madman you guys are fighting...Ganondorf, was it? Maybe he's after her and so she has to hide. You'll see her again, I'm sure." He flashed a huge grin at the boy.

Link nodded and straightened back up. With a determined look, he said, "You're right! And we've got more important stuff to do now!"

"So we're off to the Water Temple?" Navi asked, floating in front of her partner.

"Well, yeah. But I want to unfreeze King Zora first. We can at least help him even if it'll take longer to help the other Zora's," Link told her.

"Sounds like a plan then. Let's go." Jiraiya led them out of the cavern.

*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*

Another chapter done!

Did you laugh at all? Amused in the slightest? Let me know if you're liking the story, and if this chapter wasn't as funny as the last one...well, I'll try to do better in the future.

And if any of you like to draw, I would appreciate any attempt to make a cover picture for this story. I can't find a picture of Jiraiya and Link (and preferably Navi in there somewhere too) anywhere. I can't honestly be the only one to team them up, right? Surely, someone else has had the idea before...?

Oh well. I just need a cover picture for this story in case anyone's interested. :)

Until next time!


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